The present invention relates to electrical female terminals of the plug through type and more specifically, to electrical female terminals configured to connect to electric cables and to receive male plugs of the plug through type.
One-piece electrical female terminals for connecting to electric cables and to male plugs are known in the art. One example of a two way electrical female terminal is found in U.S. Pat No. 5,720,634. Such arrangements eliminate the need for separate terminal parts and are configured for automatic inspection by insertion of a light source through one end of the finished one-piece fabrication. A typical so called plug through electrical female terminal includes cable and wire clips or wings at one end of the terminal. The terminal includes a neck segment that connects the clips to an integral barrel or can segment that is connected by a strap to a terminal pin support portion having contact fingers thereon. These contact fingers are housed within the integral can and are configured to engage the sides of a male pin inserted there through.
During fabrication such electrical female terminals are stamped from a sheet of material to form a cable connection end with the clips or wings thereon. The clips or wings are connected by a transition region to a connector strap and thence to a region having contact fingers thereon. Once the part is stamped, the connector strap is bent to locate the contact fingers within the transition region that in turn is formed as an open-ended split barrel or cap enclosing the contact fingers. The contact fingers define a cavity into which a male pin can be passed through and the contact fingers are configured to provide a positive electrical connection between the contact fingers and the plug. Electrical female terminals of the prior art embodying such cable connection and plug through features require the contact fingers to be formed on beams that limit the degree of spring contact force.
While electrical female terminals of the prior art are suitable for many applications, it is desirous to be able to stamp such terminals from thick stock to improve their current capacity and to provide a vane configured spring contact geometry that assure a high normal force around the full circumference of a mating pin to provide such current conduction between the electrical female terminal and a through plug connection thereto.
It is an object of the present invention to provide an electrical female terminal comprising a direct current path between a contact region defined by a plurality of circumferentially spaced contact vanes formed as beams having opposite ends connected to terminal body portions and wherein each vane is twisted on its length to provide a radially inwardly directed contact on a beam that provides a torsional force component that increases normal forces for providing electrical contact without producing a commensurate increase in the force required to engage a pin within the contact region.
A feature of the present invention is that the amount of torsional force in each of the contact vanes can be determined by the amount of offset formed between the center of each vane, the length of each vane and the width of the base of each of the vanes.
Another feature of the present invention is that each of the contact vanes is enclosed within an integral can to provide protection of the contact vanes when shaped to form radially inwardly directed contact regions thereon.
Another feature of the present invention is to provide a plurality of circumferentially spaced contact vanes, each formed with a radially inwardly directed contact portion thereon and a can that will fully support each of the contact vanes between the opposite ends thereof during mating of a contact pin therein the inner contact region is fully supported circumferentially wherein each of the contact vanes is supported between their opposite ends and throughout their length by an integral can.
Another feature of the present invention is to configure each of the contact vanes as beams that when contact with an inserted pin will be subjected to torsional and bending stresses that will cause each of the vanes to twist and straighten so as to come into contact with the integral can at a significant normal force there between thereby to provide a current path from the pin through the can and its connecting strap as well as through contact with the inner contact body.
A further feature is to provide such an arrangement wherein the can provides bending overstress protection and promotes torsional deflection of the contact vanes.
Another feature of the present invention is to configure the contact vanes from high mass material for dissipating heat generated within high current flow connector systems.
Other objects and features of the present invention will become apparent to those skilled in the art in light of the following detailed description of a preferred embodiment of the present invention, setting forth the best mode of the invention contemplated by the inventors and illustrated by the accompanying sheets of drawings.